Sunday, January 31, 2010

Vitor Junior returns from Brazil on Tuesday following surgery on the groin injury that kept him out of action for most of 2009.

The problem first flared up around the end of May and wouldn't go away, despite a short-lived return to action in July.

The club's official announcement gives a rehabilitation period of 5 weeks (from the date of the surgery), which could see him training again by the end of February. But it's likely to be a few weeks longer before we see him back in the blue and black.

In other news, three more pre-season friendlies have been announced:

Kanto Gakuin University (6th Feb)

Yokohama FC (12th Feb)

Ventforet Kofu (15th Feb)

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Frontale start with a home tie against Albirex Niigata on Saturday 6th March. Then a week later, on the 13th, they travel to Nagoya to face a sturdy Grampus side freshly reinforced by Japanese internationals, Marcus Tulio Tanaka (signed from Urawa Reds) and Mu Kanazaki (from Oita Trinita).

In the meantime, pre-season starts on Thursday (21st January) with the first of two training camps in Miyazaki prefecture.

Frontale's 2010 campaign gets under way with a tricky Asian Champions League fixture away to K-League runners-up Seongnam Ilhwa FC.

The match will take place on Tuesday, 23rd February - almost 2 weeks prior to the start of the domestic season on 6th March.

Frontale can look forward to a familiar travel itinerary, as they once again face teams from Korea, China and Australia. However, the quality of the opposition looks a step up from last year's, at least on paper.

One would expect Melbourne Victory to provide a stiffer challenge than Central Coast Mariners. And, after the pandemonium in Tianjin last year, the prospect of a trip to China for the final group game must be a little daunting.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Nothing official from Frontale yet, but looking at the 2010 squad numbers allocated at the weekend, the number 20 seems to have been set aside for somebody.

Also announced this weekend, at the club's annual season launch show, was a new slogan. Last year's "One Step" wasn't quite achieved, so the powers that be have plumped for "+α"!?

What is this "+α"? Well, it comes from "plus alpha" (or "Plus ALFA" if, like Frontale, you feel the need to stick a gratuitous F in there) - a Japanglish phrase meaning something along the lines of "that little bit extra".

Whether Inamoto can provide the necessary plus alpha for the club to claim their first major trophy remains to be seen.